First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Molina Healthcare, Inc $MOH

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Molina Healthcare, Inc (NYSE:MOH) by 5.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 160,235 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,719 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Molina Healthcare were worth $21,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Molina Healthcare by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 4,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Molina Healthcare by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Molina Healthcare by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Molina Healthcare by 0.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in Molina Healthcare by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 16,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,206,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 98.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MOH shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Molina Healthcare from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $129.00 price objective on shares of Molina Healthcare in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Molina Healthcare from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Bank of America upgraded Molina Healthcare from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Molina Healthcare from $124.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $202.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Molina Healthcare news, CAO Maurice Hebert sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.55, for a total transaction of $114,930.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 12,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,454,713.25. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jeff D. Barlow sold 17,811 shares of Molina Healthcare stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.12, for a total value of $3,314,983.32. Following the transaction, the insider owned 67,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,502,611. The trade was a 20.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.44% of the company’s stock.

Molina Healthcare Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MOH opened at $199.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Molina Healthcare, Inc has a 12 month low of $121.06 and a 12 month high of $244.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.36. The stock has a market cap of $10.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1,105.83, a PEG ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 0.74.

Molina Healthcare (NYSE:MOH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $10.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.83 billion. Molina Healthcare had a negative net margin of 0.02% and a positive return on equity of 3.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Molina Healthcare, Inc will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

About Molina Healthcare

Molina Healthcare, Inc is a managed care company specializing in government-sponsored health insurance programs. The company offers Medicaid managed care plans, Medicare Advantage and prescription drug plans, and individual Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act. Through an integrated care model, Molina emphasizes preventive and primary care services, care coordination, and disease management to improve health outcomes for its members.

The company traces its roots to the early 1980s, when Dr.